Only students that are thriving and feeling well are learning anything of value...

Quickly: Two books in one of my book clubs looked interesting, both written by the Swedish child and school physician Lars H. Gustafsson.

About the first “Student health starts in the classroom” you can read (in my amateur translation from Swedish):

“Only students that are thriving and feeling well are learning anything of value.”

Gustafsson writes about the school’s ability to meet students in a warm, emphatic and at the same time well-informed way.

One chapter is about the conception “normality” – what’s actually “normal” concerning children?

Do children with needs for special support get the support they need and are entitled to he also wonders. And are those at the same time allowed to stay in the community?

He also wonders how the school can shape or mold what a good community governed by law is in practice and about the importance of close and confiding cooperation between students, parents and the school’s staff.

In the other book “Guiding children” he is discussing different forms of bringing up of children; the more authoritarian shouting for more rules and order and a more democratic building on mutual respect and where the adult acting as a guide for the child.

My addition: I don’t think the child (any child) is born evil or with destructive or self destructive drives. If it acts in that way it has reasons. The environment ought to be prepared to hear about those things and deal with them. But if there are no or few such people in the child’s environment I hope the net can confirm those kids and tell them that what was done was wrong!!!

And here is Lars H. Gustafsson’s blog! And see this article about the Nanny-pedagogy and poisonous pedagogy (in Swedish).

Fighting for a cause, for justice, against bad conditions - cooperating or not…

we are celebrating Walpurgis Night this evening.

People are reacting at conditions at their workplaces… How do they deal with them? How do different people solve such problems?

Some go out like heroes, trying to rescue all and everyone? Try to point to the bad conditions. But how many of those succeed to change the situation? Or what happens with them?

Whistle blowers use to get into real troubles.

The advice is to not trying to change things on your own, but try to get together with other people. And if there is nobody to get together with try to "live" with things in some way anyway or look for another job.

Can one cooperate without obliterating oneself? In good conditions you can I think. In worse or bad this can be difficult. And this is even more difficult if you have things in your backpack you haven’t gotten help or been able to deal with. Then it can really be difficult acting constructively.

What about caring about other people, caring about another person?

Cooperation and teamwork…

The new time’s melody at our workplaces (since around 20 years) was teamwork. Did something happen in parallel with this “new trend”? I have to add that I think working together can improve what’s done a lot. It CAN, but it doesn’t necessarily do (but that’s another thread).

We shall “teamwork” at workplaces, but what about teamworking i.e. cooperating and getting together about really substantial things outside our workplaces?

You shall but you shall not!?

Came to think about a blogposting today: what about “devoting oneself” to self-damaging behavior? That’s nothing to talk about, because there are other more important and bigger questions. Such as for instance a president forbidding/banning (read: dictating - as a dictator) the further use and selling of a certain sort of light bulbs and a certain sort of fuel consuming car… More on light bulbs.

How tired I get…

We shall work for and only promote ourselves and not care about other people (unless they aren’t higher in the hierarchy than I am)?? Be independent islands all of us. Work in small separated cells, at least outside work. But at work we have to cooperate (AND compete at the same time). Survival of the fittest and the most “adaptable”!

To which people with self-damaging behavior don’t belong! They aren’t really capable of adapting to the society, or workplaces or anything, are they? (observe the irony).

And I can’t help wondering who are the most “adaptable” (how empathic is that)? Are many psychopaths the most “adaptable”?

The weakest and also the most compassionate and empathic can founder!? And many of them also do!?

The biggest bullies are the ones that survive best? Because they aren't called in question??? You tend to admire and look up to those instead?

Creativity…

In the car home from work I had a lot of thoughts… We discussed a “new” form of cooperation at work. Initiated by us piano teachers originally. The discussion didn’t become especially “hot”, people looked or felt moderately interested.

We (the piano teachers and colleagues from other instrument groups) think people are working in many different, separate music schools. We would want to work more over the borders, for our own and our pupils' sake. At the same time we (on the whole workplace) have spoken about creating we-feeling.

It started to boil inside when nobody seemed to be interested, all sat there quiet. I felt very provoked. Of course you can wonder why I felt provoked, but this is another question and post I think.

I thought a lot for myself sitting there. This “we-feeling” we try to create by quite superficial means, as having parties and “funny” games. The rebellion in me was awoken?? Forced fun isn’t fun; funny games aren’t funny if they are forced on you! And this forced fun can become humiliating for some too?

And in the car I thought further… Are many of us so stressed and tired? And this stress and tiredness makes us less creative? We get stuck in certain thought-patterns and are incapable of thinking in other and/or new? And at the same time many maybe also feel they OUGHT to be creative, much more creative. Which rather add to the stress instead of lessens it! People can land in a viscous circle.

And I also came to think about the topic stimulation: neither over nor under stimulation are good. None of them are good in long term. Maybe short term stimulation (in form of stress for instance) can make you create big things, but you don’t if the stress and press continues year after year. And who knows what happens during this time either? If your life and relations are stable you can manage a longer time, but what makes sure nothing will happen?

Under stimulation is bad too! People also need to use their powers…

And on top comes the tricky things with balance… And we have to be allowed making mistakes!

I got an email this morning from a friend, about manipulation... Would want to write a separate posting about this, a brief one. But now I think I am going to take a bike ride first. Then home for some supper and maybe some more writing.